The streamer “byTobi” has an average of about 230 viewers on Twitch. His twin brother “LetsHugo” has thousands. Now it is said that his family resemblance has cost him his Instagram account.
What kind of a streamer is he? byTobi is a German-speaking streamer from Luxembourg who mainly shows content related to the games Minecraft and Fortnite, or is active in “Just Chatting” on Twitch. He has been active on YouTube since at least 2016.
Although byTobi has been streaming on Twitch since July 2019, he has really become active only since February 2023 – this is also the time when his twin brother LetsHugo made a big debut on the streaming platform. This twin brother is now said to be the reason why byTobi lost his Instagram account.
LetsHugo is a phenomenon on German Twitch:
All a misunderstanding?
What’s the deal with the ban? As byTobi announced on July 31, 2024, on X, his Instagram account was suspended with the note that it is not allowed to impersonate another known person. The streamer interprets this as: Apparently, they believe he is impersonating LetsHugo.
There is a larger conflict between the two brothers. Although they initially did not publicize their relationship, viewers quickly noticed the strong resemblance. LetsHugo and byTobi not only look similar and sound alike. Both also started streaming around the same time, initially did not show their faces, and create similar content.
When LetsHugo experienced a huge hype in spring 2023, it became a burden for his brother: fans accused byTobi of imitating the successful streamer, called him “Hugo2.0” or speculated whether they might secretly be the same person.
This culminated in an emotional moment during byTobi’s stream (via TikTok), followed by a statement from LetsHugo explaining that he did not mention his brother in order to separate his family from his career. One should just let his brother “do his thing” (via TikTok).
The most viewed clip on byTobi’s channel is a statement from the streamer that he is not LetsHugo and please address him by his name rather than that of his brother:
The apparently tense relationship between the brothers became a topic of discussion again in early July. LetsHugo soon announced a break, which officially had nothing to do with the situation.
With this backstory, it must be particularly frustrating for byTobi to be labeled as a fake of his brother by Instagram.
Is there another explanation? There is. A user in the comments noted that many influencers are currently receiving such suspensions (via X), including the current rising star Zarbex.
So it may be that the streamer was not banned due to confusion with LetsHugo but because Instagram assumes he is not the real byTobi. Either way, he should be able to recover his account through an identity verification. Meanwhile, LetsHugo is also currently struggling with hate.
